Being one of the 33 provinces of Indonesia, the Province of West Kalimantan is also called as the land in equator.With the Carimata Strait and Natuna Ocean in the west and the Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan to the east, it neighbors Malaysia in its northern part with Java Ocean to the south. The Kapuas River is the longest river in Indonesia with about 1,038 kilometers in length. Coastal area of West Kalimantan is composed of plain land with mountain and highland in its inland.

Capital

Pontianak

Area and Population

The Province is divided into 2 cities and 8 administrative districts with an area of 146.800 square kilometers. With a population of 3.8 million residents, its population density stands at 26 per square kilometer.

Climate

West Kalimantan lies in the tropical climate zone with daily average temperature ranging from 22 and 32 centigrade degree. The equator crosses the capital city Pontianak. With the average humidity rate at 85.2%, which keeps changing based on the rainfall, the average annual rainfall is between 3,000 and 3,900 millimeters

Economy and Industry

West Kalimantan owns an 9.599 million hectares of tropical forest, taking up 65.39% of provincial total land. Its main crop includes rubber, coconut tree, coffee, clove and pepper. The main vegetable and fruit feature rambutan, papaya, cassava, tangerine, pineapple, watermelon and durian with white orchid, black orchid, red kitool and rafflesia as its main flower species.

History and Culture

West Kalimantan is one of the provinces with earliest presence of Chinese immigrants. According to the Indonesian official statistics in 1999, people with Chinese origin accounts for 17% of total population in West Kalimantan.

By the authorization of government of Indonesia, West Kalimantan became an autonomous region in 2001. Dayak, Malay, and Chinese ethnic in West Kalimantan have reached an agreement stipulating that Chinese ethnic are one of the original residents in West Kalimantan and Mayor of Singkawang city, 60% of its population is Chinese, must be taken by a Chinese ethnic. Meanwhile, a vice mayor should be Chinese ethnic in the provincial capital Pontianak as 30% of its population are Chinese ethnics. At the moment, there has been one Chinese ethnic who has been elected as national parliament member of Indonesia and 4 provincial parliament members.

The memorandum of cooperation between Guangdong and West Kalimantan was signed on 10, April, 1995.